Saying No Isn't NICE — The Travails of Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, known as NICE, is an independent, government-funded organization that advises the British National Health Service (NHS).¹ Established in 1999, the institute has recommended coverage for hundreds of medicines. Since 2002, NHS organizations in England and Wales have been required to pay for medicines and treatments recommended in NICE “technology appraisals.” The NHS usually does not provide medicines or treatments that are not recommended by NICE — although exceptions are possible.NICE (www.nice.org.uk), however, has been criticized for the slow release of its appraisals, which has delayed the availability of some treatments that . . .